St. Matthew Lutheran Church

Four years ago when I was searching for a genuine Confessional Lutheran Church where my wife and I could grow in our faith, I was encouraged to visit here after reading some things online. When I visited, I was not without disappointment. Their two pastors are amazing servants of God, evident by not only what I experienced, but by how many people comment on how blessed they are by their service.The first highlight was experiencing how tremendously powerful and useful their Bible Study is. They take you through the actual Bible (not a book about the Bible) and open up the Scriptures like never before, teaching you relevant, practical, and useful things while expanding your knowledge of the text in a dynamic and engaging way. When they weren’t teaching directly from the Bible, they were doing a course on Apologetics, which is extremely useful for everyone today, especially our youth (it was also critical in my wife’s faith at the time too). I was so encouraged to see Apologetics being taught, because the Lutheran Church by and large has failed in this area for the past several decades and has lost most of their youth as a result (to be fair, this is also a general demographic problem everywhere in everyplace). But yeah, the Word and the Gospel can’t be effective if the soil that it’s planted in isn’t protected by a good fence, and so the Apologetics/defense of the faith and the Bible are absolutely essential. When I was younger, I left the Lutheran Church because they did not have these teachings. Now, St. Matthew teaches these things not only in Bible Study, but over at their elementary and junior high school, which makes me so happy, because this is much more the key to maintaining youth rather than trying to do funky innovative things in the actual service by imitating other denominations and thus confessing an altogether different faith (a problem I've experienced at other Lutheran churches).The second highlight is that they maintain the historic rites of the liturgy as found in the hymnal, Lutheran Service Book, and utilize all the propers of the day. There is a stereotype out there that young people do not like traditional liturgy, and this has been proven false many times and easy to see if you do even a cursory search on the topic. Lutheran Church-Canada even ran a series highlighting young people and what they like about their church, and nearly everyone commented on their love for the liturgy. When I began taking my faith seriously and came to recognize that how we worship confesses what we believe, I was no exception. I believe that if we don’t take our worship practices seriously, no one else will take us seriously either (youth especially; they can see right through us). So rather than some pastor doing whatever he wants, trying to be “creative” in their own way, the practice here is genuinely Lutheran, standing with the historic church of all time. It is something you can count on in a world that is unstable and constantly changing with the influences of secular culture. It transcends both time and culture, bringing the gifts of heaven to you here on earth. The key is to teach what these things mean, rather than trying to cater based on popular culture that does nothing but divide people, not to mention it’s constantly changing and so you’ll never keep up as it is. The Church is supposed to be different from the world; Holy means “separate”, or “set-apart”.Whether you’re a lifelong Lutheran looking to experience your faith and traditions on a deeper level, or someone thinking about Lutheranism because you’ve listened to something like Issues Etc., this is the place. I transferred after attending for only a few months and haven't looked back since.

Best in the west

Wonderful Christmas concert provided by the Rotary. Beautiful church.

Family friendly congregation. Excellent ministers, bible based liturgy and many active programs for seniors and youth.

Beautiful church and congregation.

This church is super welcoming, and the current pastors always share a very clear, concise message. They do not allow people to be brushed aside either - no matter how busy they are, they always want everyone to know there is time for them as is needed. I'm so glad my husband decided to introduce me to this church :)

Very nice church. People are kind and caring. I would highly recommend this church.

Its awesome

Beautiful church with excellent pastors and strong theology. They also have an excellent school, which they continue to promote community with in the church, and they have various education opportunities as well. Well worth the drive if you are in one of the neighbouring cities. You can pack a picnic, walk through town, and make a morning of it! :)

Beautiful church and fellowship